Because of the desolate financial situation of the clinics in the big cities, numerous city leaders are demanding support from the federal states and the federal government. Five mayors from Hesse also signed.
Braunschweig (dpa/lhe) - In the discussion about a hospital reform in Germany, 19 mayors expressed strong existential fears for their clinics. Among them are the mayors of Frankfurt, Kassel, Fulda, Hanau and Darmstadt. "We are deeply concerned about the future viability of our municipally supported and financed maximum care clinics," says a letter to the health ministers of the federal and state governments, which is available to the German Press Agency. If fundamentally changed framework conditions are not decided soon, the existence of the clinics will be at risk, says the joint letter dated March 1st.
"Maximum care hospitals are the backbone of inpatient medical care in Germany," write the city leaders. The chronic underfunding must end so that the houses can continue to make their contribution to regional public services, said Braunschweig's Mayor Thorsten Kornblum (SPD), in whose city the nationwide appeal was initiated.
In contrast to other clinics, municipal hospitals with maximum care must ensure the care of an entire region far beyond the city limits, said Potsdam Mayor Mike Schubert (SPD). "Municipalities as well as Potsdam often have to provide large sums in the millions in their budgets at short notice, so that the health care of the people can continue to be guaranteed," said Schubert. "But the cities are not in the long run the stopgap for a structurally failed clinic financing in Germany." In the current draft budget for 2023 to 2025, Potsdam has planned a total of 58.5 million euros for the financial stabilization of the Ernst von Bergmann Clinic.
The reasons for the joint letter are the hospital financing, which has been critical for years, and the current federal-state talks for reforms, the signatories explained. According to the will of the federal and state governments, the hospital landscape in Germany is to be fundamentally redesigned. In May 2022, a "government commission for hospitals" began its work to address the necessary reforms.
The mayors of almost all federal states are demanding significantly better financial resources for their hospitals. These have a largely identical service profile to university clinics, but their existence is secured through the state budgets. The sometimes three-digit million deficits of the maximum suppliers, on the other hand, were at the expense of the often heavily burdened city budgets. In addition, the OBs are also calling for a short-term response to the massive increase in energy costs.
